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Rapid - N.Rock Road/38th Road to Bay du Noc (PnP, or up to 27 miles)

Rapid, Michigan, US

N.Rock Road/38th Road to Bay du Noc (PnP, or up to 27 miles)

Usual Difficulty

I-II(III) (for normal flows)

Length

27 Miles

Avg. Gradient

13 fpm

Max Gradient

25 fpm

River Description

With a name like 'Rapid River', you'd think there should be some whitewater, right?
Well, there is, though generally it is almost exclusively low-grade rapids (class I-II riffles
and rips). This river appears to spread it's gradient out over quite a length. In the
twenty-seven miles listed here, there are just two stretches (a three-mile and a four-mile
stretch) where gradient falls under ten feet per mile. Flipside, there is no full mile
where gradient exceeds twentyfive feet per mile, and not a quarter-mile with
more than ten feet of drop (I.E., an equivalent of 40FPM). So, any long reach here is
canoe-tripping or recreational-kayak territory.

That said, there is one area of named rapids which (with adequate flows) could excite true
whitewater playboaters. "Rapid River Falls" (really more of a 'rapids'
than a 'falls'), lies within a park (good access for PnP). Some (low-flow)
photos are online at:SuperiorSights.com andPanoramio.com

For those wishing to do more than just the park-and-play, many different access points are
possible, allowing various length trips. With adequate flows, the full run could be possible
(though you would obviously need an early start and a long day!). IF access/parking is found, it
could be split into (nearly equal) thirds, the first-third ending where the river is close to
E.Maple Ridge/37 Road, the second-third ending at Rapid River Falls County Park, and the
final-third ending at Bay du Noc.

The following video (from YouTube, courtesy "Real Outdoor TV Show") includes commercial
rafting footage of the rapids on this run. (We have set start- and end-time to highlight footage
of just this river. If you drag the slider, you can see the beginning of the video/show (which
includes rafting the Escanaba below Boney Falls Dam) and the end of the video/show (which is a
segment on fishing). However, doing so will 'erase' the start- and end-times we have set.
Doing a refresh/reload on your browser will re-implement these parameters.)

Much more of a 'rapids' than a real 'falls', the river drops over a series of bedrock ledges (none more than a foot-or-two in height). At low-boatable flows, this may be no more than bump-and-scrape class I-II. At moderate flows, expect solid class II, and at times of high flows, this area will have great waves and holes, and likely reach at least a solid class III. Good access in a County Park should allow for a 'park-and-play' at this location.

A USGS sampling site at the S15 bridge immediately downstream lists drainage at this point as 100 square miles.